Sky's Quest
by Karts of Sugar Rush
Summary: It's the PI cast's first Christmas at the Playa, and Sky has recently learned from Ella that Dave has closed himself off from the world. From there, it just seems like everything goes wrong. Wishing she could go back and change events for the better, Sky receives a gift that might just grant her wish.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Total Drama or anything in the series.

**So, this is the beginning of my Christmas story. And in the spirit of New Year's, I decided to upload it in the evening, close to the countdown. Read and Review!**

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><p>Sky's Quest<p>

Winter came and everything outside was blanketed with snow. The Playa's pool, juice bar, and outdoor buffet table were closed up until the snow went away.

Inside the Playa, everything was much more colorful and lively. Some of the guys were having a video game tournament in the rec room, some of the girls were in the spa, and everyone else was scattered around. The whole resort, from head to toe, was decked out in holiday apparel. Lights were strung up out where the juice bar was, on the roof, and wherever else they could be put. Some of the contestants had wreaths on their locked balcony doors. Even several of the resort's rooms and hallways were decorated in red and green like green carpets or red tablecloths. In the main lobby of the resort was the centerpiece of it all, a tall tree stood decorated with ornaments and the traditional star at the very top.

The thing was, all of the decorations were put up just last night. Not to mention that it was the week before Christmas day.

It was mid-morning and a certain short gymnast was still trying to wake herself up.

In the elevator, Sky yawned and covered up her mouth in the midst of it. She was still quite groggy, failing to notice that the elevator was decorated as opposed to how it usually looked; there was even Christmas music playing in place of the usual Total Drama elevator tune.

At last, the elevator finished its two floor descent and the doors slid open. The gymnast stepped out of the elevator and walked towards the dining hall to get some breakfast.

Upon entering the dining hall, she passed Owen and Sugar- both of whom she figured would still be there at the time-, Scott, Ezekiel, Scarlett, Max, and Amy, all without a noticing glance. Before she had her breakfast and was energized, Sky was prone to not noticing things.

She picked up a tray and started helping herself to the assorted arrangements of breakfast foods. As a training athlete, she stuck with a healthy bowl of cereal, a banana, a cup of orange juice, and a slice of toast. Once she had her breakfast, she sat down at the nearest seat and began fueling up. While eating, her mind became more alert; it awoke and started processing. It was then as she eat her banana that she noticed something off.

"Huh?" She wondered out loud, pausing her eating and noticing the red tablecloth which was usually a dark yellow.

"Something wrong, Sky?"

Sky looked up to see Owen hovering over her shoulder, trying to give her some space and trying to be helpful at the same time.

"Oh," Sky started to say, "no, nothing's wrong, Owen. It's just," she glanced at the tablecloth, "I noticed the tablecloth is a different color. Why is that?"

Owen gaped at her. "You mean you don't know?"

"Don't know what?"

"That it's a week until Christmas!"

"Christmas is a week away? Seriously?" She had no idea how fast time flew.

"Yeah," Owen blinked momentarily before he smiled. "Ah, I know why you're confused. This is your first Christmas at the Playa, isn't it?"

"Uh, yeah. I mean I just competed in season six this summer and learned that we're stuck here until the three-year contract stipulation expires."

"I've been here for almost four years, not counting the times that Chris allowed me to go home to see my family for a couple days or when I was competing." Owen then attempted to try and count on his fingers how many times he had been allowed to leave the Playa.

"Wait," Sky paused him, "You got to leave the Playa? I thought Chris didn't allow us to leave for fear of us spoiling the latest season?"

"Yeah, well, once the season finishes airing, he allows us opportunities to go home to our families or let them come here ever since Courtney threatened to sue him for keeping us like prisoners. He doesn't like the holiday hassle so he usually lets us go home or let them come here for a couple days after everything winds down." Owen shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. "Last time I was home, Gavin bet Johnny he couldn't write his name in the snow with his pee so-"

"Don't need to know that."

"Sorry. Anyway, like I was saying, every year the week before Christmas, Chris has the interns decorate the Playa for Christmas. The first year, Chris didn't have any plans on decorating for Christmas until we all badgered him into getting decorations and having the interns set them up. They don't mind doing the extra decorating and taking everything down as long as they get some gratitude out of it. The decorations are usually up until New Year's or so."

Sky smiled, "Cool. So, the whole Playa is decorated like this? I didn't notice, mostly because I wasn't fully awake yet."

"Well, once you finish breakfast, take a look around. The place looks awesome!" Owen chuckled heartily. He looked down at the slice of toast on Sky's plate and the remaining cereal. "Are you going to finish that?"

"Yes."

"Aw…" Owen sighed depressingly and moped over to his seat where his own food remained, surprisingly untouched by Sugar, who sat at a table a few tables away.

Turning back to her breakfast, Sky scooped another spoonful of cereal into her mouth.

A few minutes later, Sky finished up her breakfast and returned her dishes to the kitchen. On her way out of the dining hall, she passed Ella, the fairytale princess humming a cheerful tune as she went.

"Ella, you're just having breakfast now?" Sky asked her; Ella didn't seem like the type of person to have a late breakfast.

Ella stopped humming away and shook her head, "Oh no, I'm just here to get breakfast for Dave."

"Breakfast for Dave? Why? Is he sick?"

"Not at all. He just doesn't like to come out of his room. Since I'm his friend, I come down and get him whatever he requests."

"Why doesn't Dave want to come out of his room? Does he hate Christmas or something?" She asked further.

"No, Dave just wishes not to see the outside world. He hasn't for a while."

"Since when?"

Ella tried hard to think of the answer before she glanced at Sky. "How long ago was the finale of the show?"

Sky's eyes widened. "You're telling me Dave has hid away in his room this whole time?"

"Not all the time," Ella answered, "He tells me he goes on a midnight walk every once in a while and goes into the other rooms sometimes. He's also present at the mandatory meetings we all have."

"I know he's at the meetings. I've seen him." Sky pointed out, recalling seeing Dave at those times even if he didn't see her, or he saw her and he just didn't want to see her looking at him. Ella continued into the dining hall and Sky followed her back inside. "I just don't get it. Why would Dave lock himself away in his room? What does he even do in there? If he's been holing himself up in there for this long, he has to have gone crazy by now."

Ella took a tray and started picking out Dave's requested breakfast: Toast, a banana, some waffles, and a glass of milk. As she picked out everything, Ella continued to speak to Sky. "He hasn't 'gone crazy'. He keeps himself plenty occupied playing video games and watching television online. Whenever I bring him a book to read, he reads it and usually finishes it within the span of two days." She finished gathering breakfast and picked up the tray, heading to the exit.

Sky walked after Ella. "Still, who locks themselves up in their room? Even Noah, who hates associating with everyone, comes out of his room to do those same things. I don't care that Dave is going out walking in the middle of the night, he just can't go day and night without talking to somebody."

"I talk to him." Ella said. Without even needing to be asked, Sky opened the door for Ella and they both left the room. "Thank you." She thanked Sky upon crossing through the doorway.

"You're welcome," Sky sighed, "I just don't get it though. Why did Dave lock himself in his room this whole time and why am I finding this out just now?"

Ella glanced at her. "Because he's been avoiding you. After what happened on the show, Dave's been too afraid to make contact with anyone. He believes nobody except me would talk to him because of his behavior in the finale." Surprisingly to Sky, she had said all of this without any blame in her tone; Ella was simply telling it as it was without any emphasis.

Dave had hid himself away from the world and it was all because of her.

She felt like a bomb had dropped in her conscience. It was like a sinking feeling in her stomach.

Sky and Ella reached the lobby and the main elevator. Reaching out one finger as she held the tray, Ella pressed the 'up' button.

Sky frowned concernedly. "But, it's not even his fault. It's mine. I led him on when I didn't mean to. I never intended for any of that to happen. I pushed him too far." She remembered how Dave had lost all his faith in her as a friend, as a person who had betrayed him. Even when she remembered that she and the others had forgotten Dave at the end, she could still see he was trying to stay away from her. Right away when they had arrived at the Playa, Dave had shuffled off to the elevator to head to his room. She hadn't seen a smile on his face since she had kissed him.

"I know you didn't mean any bad intentions. You didn't know what was going to happen." Ella said comfortingly.

"Thanks, Ella." She mumbled, feeling guilty, and rose her voice slightly. "Thanks for looking after Dave. It means a lot." He wasn't truly alone. Ella was making sure he eat and had someone to listen to him.

Ella nodded. "You're welcome, Sky." The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Stepping inside, Ella turned to face her. "Should I tell Dave that you said hello?"

The gymnast stared at her for a few moments before she let her head down and shook her head. "No, I think if he knows that you talked to me about him, then it will just ruin his day."

Frowning, Ella sighed. "Okay, if that's what you want." She then pressed the button that would take her up to the fourth floor. "See you later."

"See you." Sky waved her farewell. The doors slid shut and Ella was on her way up to Dave's room. Staring at the closed elevator, Sky suddenly felt alone. Down the various hallways around the Playa, she could hear the guys cheering each other on in their video game tournament and she could hear some of the elated squeals of the girls in the spa. Unsure of what to do with herself, Sky decided to go and practice in the gym like she usually does.

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><p>I hope you enjoyed this first part. Hopefully, I can crank out the other chapters before the twelfth which is the day I start up college again. And before I forget, I dedicate this story to the Total Drama Writers' Forum for Christmas, my friends college had made me distant from as of late.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Total Drama or anything in the franchise.

**Okay, so writing and uploading all the chapters to this story before the twelfth was more like wishful thinking. I took a look at my writing speed, and the outline to the story, and came to the conclusion that there was no way that it was possible. That said, I'm putting up this chapter as promised. Enjoy!**

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><p>There weren't many occupants in the gym besides Sky. Eva was there like always, Brick came in to do his usual laps around the gym, and Lightning was keeping in football player shape. Jo usually did her jog outside, but with the snow and cold weather, she had to take her exercise indoors and was taking the opportunity to try and outrun Brick.<p>

Sky kept to the area near the balance beam, the trampoline, the vault, and the bar. Jumping into the air on the trampoline, she forced herself to stop thinking about Dave and focus on practice. While in the air, she did flips and spins, managing to get several of each in the process. It was such a rush to be in the air and seeing the world rapidly whirl around. After a few rounds, she stopped jumping and let gravity grab hold of her body again. Climbing off the trampoline, she picked up her towel and her bottle of water. She wiped her forehead and took a swig of water to rehydrate.

"Hah!" Sky turned her attention to the masculine shout. From the sound of it, it came from where Brick and Jo were. "I beat you, Jo." Brick boasted with pride.

Jo rolled her eyes and folded her arms. "Big whoop, so what does this make for us, you now have twenty victories to my seventy?"

Brick friendly nudged her in the shoulder. "Come on, Jo, you know it's not that big of a gap."

"Fine, so what is it really? Thirty to sixty?"

"Close enough."

The sight of them couldn't help but make Sky smile. She remembered that Dave tried to be competitive to impress her. Once her thoughts focused on Dave again, she frowned. Just when she had forgotten about him.

"So," Jo drawled out, "what now?"

Brick grinned and took one of her hands. "Now we go find mistletoe and kiss under it. Just as we betted."

"Remind me why I agreed to that."

"Because you were confident that I would lose and you wouldn't end up kissing me under mistletoe. If you had won, I'd have to find you an early Christmas present."

"Fine, but we better do it when nobody's watching us or I'm never going to hear the end of it." Jo reluctantly let Brick pull her out of the gym.

Eva wasn't even paying attention to what was going on. She had her earbuds in and was weightlifting to the music. Lightning, however, was listening just as Sky was.

"Lightning just doesn't get what Joe sees in Brick. And if he doesn't want anybody seeing them kiss, then why are they doing it in the first place?" He asked out loud as he did some curl ups.

Sky looked at Lightning weirdly. She had seen him on the show, but interacting with him made him seem a lot weirder. "You do realize Jo's a girl, right?"

The athletic overachiever let out a short laugh, "Hah, like Lightning's going to believe that a second time. Lightning almost believed it the first time, but then he figured, Joe's trying to get the last laugh by pulling Lightning's leg and making him look stupid. Sha-hah, like that will happen."

The gymnast sighed and glanced at the clock. It was mid-afternoon now and she had been practicing ever since she talked with Ella. She really needed something to get her mind off Dave. Recalling that she sometimes heads out to the pool to swim some laps, she remembered that with the outdoor pool closed up, the indoor pool was up and running. Chris was cheap like that. He would let one operate, but not both. In the warmer months, it was the outdoor pool, and in the cooler months, it was the indoor pool. It saved money on water and kept the teens from pestering him about not having a pool to swim in. Thoughts of the indoor pool flooding her mind, Sky decided she would go swim laps there.

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><p>Her next activity planned, Sky went back up to her room to change into her swimsuit and headed back downstairs to the indoor pool.<p>

Entering the room the pool was in, it almost looked like a hotel pool room. The juice bar that normally operated outside had a stall inside this very room at the resort as well. Not too many were around. It seemed like there was only Noah, who was at the juice bar counter with a book, and Gwen, who appeared to be peacefully taking a nap in one of the comfortable lounge chairs. Aside from those two, it seemed that Sky had the whole pool to swim in alone. Quietly setting her towel on a chair near Gwen's, Sky walked over to the end of the pool and climbed down the ladder into the water. Once she was treading water, she took a breath and began doing some laps across. While she practiced, she hoped she wasn't making too much noise and disturbing the other occupants of the room.

After doing several laps across and back, Sky decided to take a break and just swam for leisure. She swam under a few times just for the sensation of it, and floated for a little while and kicked her legs absentmindedly. A little bit later, she got upright and treaded water. Noticing she was still alone, Sky glanced at the water around her. She sighed; she was alone quite often. At first, she thought it was just because she was dedicated to her training for the Olympics, but she eventually found out that she was alone because not a lot of the other contestants were very fond of her. They had seen the PI finale, and needless to say, they weren't very supportive of some of the decisions she made. Sure they congratulated her on winning and taking down Sugar in the final three, but that was all the support she got. She had only a few people that she could call friends at the resort: Ella, Lindsay, Beth, Mike, Zoey, Cameron, Owen, Dawn, and B, and that was pretty much it. They all had other friends beside her and spent most of their time with them instead of her. All alone, Sky could only wallow in the loneliness that she had recently discovered.

Somehow though, Sky found herself imagining being back on Pahkitew Island. She remembered being down in the caves with her team. More specifically, she remembered how after Sugar had accidentally rammed her and the boys into the lake in front of them. The gymnast recalled that moment vividly; that was one of the happy moments she had with Dave. She was treading water there, and he was treading right beside her with a smile on his face which made her smile too, and he had charmed her with his sense of humor.

…But that was before their bond was ruined thanks to her stupid decisions.

Shaking her head, she looked back where she was staring and saw the empty, sparkly pool water. No Dave. Disappointed in herself for letting her thoughts constantly wander to Dave, Sky sighed sadly.

"Hey, you okay?"

Turning to where she heard the voice, the gymnast saw Gwen, awake, sitting in the lounge chair beside where she had left her towel.

"Oops, Gwen, did I wake you?" Sky asked apologetically.

"No, I slept fine." Gwen waved off the notion. "So, what's up with you? You seem all… well, moody. Just like I was when I first got sucked into this messed up show."

"I, I'm just thinking. I heard some stuff earlier, and I can't stop thinking about it no matter how much I try to focus on training. The more I think, the more I feel guilty." Sky admitted, looking away from Gwen.

Gwen breathed out and leaned back in her chair. "I know how that feels."

Biting her lower lip, Sky glanced at the juice bar and noticed that Noah had vanished. It seemed nobody was here except for her and Gwen now. She glanced at Gwen, uncertainty in her eyes. "Gwen, can I… can I talk to you about something?"

"We're already talking anyway, go right ahead."

Sky climbed out of the pool and started to dry herself off with her towel. "Do you ever feel like you've royally messed up?"

"I might," Gwen raised an eyebrow at her, "what's it to you?"

"I won the million dollars, which is great and everything, but the way I got there was so screwed up." She finished drying off and sat down on her chair next to Gwen's.

"You think so?"

"You saw the season, I know you did. Zoey told me that everyone at the Playa is the first to see the completed episodes."

Gwen held up a hand to stop her. "I know that. I'm just asking if you truly think the way you played the game was screwed up."

The gymnast slumped in her chair and covered her face with her hands. "I know I screwed up! I led Dave on when I didn't even mean to. Sure I tried to tell him the truth several times, but he just wouldn't let me even get there. It's because of me unintentionally leading him on that he went overboard. I kissed him for crying out loud! I kissed him just so he could help me win. That's all I cared about at that point, winning. Gah, I'm so stupid! And now because of what I did, I've hardly got any friends, Dave isolated himself in his room for the last several months, and most of the fanbase hates me, all because I was selfish and spineless for not outright telling Dave the truth before it was too late. Ever since this morning when I learned what Dave has been up to, I can't stop thinking about how bad everything turned out. Why did everything go so wrong?!"

She laid there in silence for a little bit after completing her rant, her face covered by her hands in shame. Unknown to her and her chat companion, someone stood just around the door to the room. Ella had wanted to speak to Sky again and had been searching the Playa for her ever since she left Dave's room a little while ago. A few tips from some of the other contestants had led her to the pool, where Sky was last seen headed towards. Coincidentally, Ella had heard the whole exchange. Out of respect for Sky's privacy, Ella decided against her original plan of talking to Sky and chose to speak with her later. The fairytale princess walked away with something to think about.

"… I thought the same."

Sky uncovered her face to look at Gwen confusedly. "Huh?"

The Goth girl sat up a little straighter. "I thought the same thing before."

"You did?"

"In my time of Total Drama, I made some bad calls. When I made those bad calls, I have no idea what I was thinking." Gwen admitted. "After season three, I lost a lot of my friends and fans. At first, I wasn't sure why, but then I found out it had to do with me hooking up with Duncan. I tried to make amends with people, but people just wouldn't give me more than the time of day anymore. When season five came around, I thought I could try and make amends, but you can guess how well that turned out."

"Yeah, I can." Sky nodded.

Gwen sighed. "Looking back, I really screwed up too. I looked over my previous performances after season five and realized that I didn't approach my problems with Trent the right way in season two. I didn't get the full story before I broke up with him. Looking over season three, I noticed that Courtney and Duncan didn't even officially break up until after Duncan and I had kissed. Even when I was trying to make amends with Courtney, I realized how big of a jerk I was to Duncan in the process. I've been wrong every time, no matter how much I try to fix things. I guess we both royally messed up huh?"

"Yeah, we really did." Sky nodded again.

"You still have a chance though."

"What?"

"You still have a chance to fix your mistakes. I'm already too deep and I think if I try anything more, I'll just get into an even bigger mess." Gwen laid back again.

Sky sat up inquisitively. "What do you think I should do?"

"Show Dave that you're sorry, get everything off your chest, show him that you care about him."

"How do I do that?"

Gwen hummed for a moment. "Well, it's Christmas, maybe you should get him something that he'll really like. Give him the present and come clean with about how you feel about everything that happened. You have less people involved than I do, it shouldn't be too hard."

The gymnast mulled it over for a little bit. "I suppose I could give it a try. Hopefully it won't hurt and it will work. Thanks, Gwen." Her mind set, Sky got up and grabbed her towel to leave the pool room. As she left, she thought of something. "Hey, Gwen?"

"Yeah?" Gwen asked in a monotone.

"Just because I'm trying doesn't mean you shouldn't. If you really care about Courtney, Duncan, and Trent, then you should try. You're back to being friends with Trent right? That's one step forward. You just need to take the rest." Her final word said, Sky left the pool.

The Goth girl opened her mouth and reached her hand out to say something, but Sky left before she could. With no one to talk to Gwen was left to think on what Sky had said. She glanced around the pool room and observed the loneliness she felt in it.

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><p>A few hours later, Sky had changed into her day clothes, had her dinner, and was currently in her room, mulling over what she could possibly give to Dave. She was in the middle of thinking on her bed when she heard a knock on her door. Wondering who could possibly want to see her at this time, she opened up her door to see someone surprising.<p>

"Ella?"

"Hello again, Sky." She greeted friendly. "May I come in?"

"Um," Sky hesitated for a moment, she rarely had anyone visiting her room so the request was a bit out of the ordinary. Though, after talking that morning, she felt that it would be okay, "Sure, come in." Ella walked inside and Sky shut the door behind her. Ella stood in the middle of the suite while Sky took a seat on the edge of her bed. "So, what do you need?"

Ella turned from friendly to concerned. "After our talk this morning, I thought I should keep you updated on what Dave is up to?"

"And?"

"And he's been the same he's always been. He finished the newest book I gave him two days ago today and this afternoon, he attempted to complete this game he downloaded off the Internet on his computer. He seemed pretty happy when he accomplished it. That was the first time I've seen him smile in a couple weeks, actually. He's been working on that game for a couple days."

Sky slightly smiled, "At least we know he can still smile sometimes."

"Yes," Ella nodded, "I'm happy about that too." Then the fairytale princess bit her lip nervously. "I also came to talk to you about something else."

"What?"

"I might have overheard you speaking with Gwen…" Ella admitted.

"You did?" Sky's eyes widened and she flopped onto her bed with a groan.

"I truly am sorry. I was looking for you and the others directed me to the pool, and I believe I just arrived at the wrong time."

"No, no, it's fine." The gymnast waved off the apology.

"Really?" Ella asked, taking a seat on the bed next to where Sky was lying down. "You're not mad?"

Sky peered over at Ella. "I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at myself."

"If this is about what you told Gwen earlier, then you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. You had no idea what was going to happen whatever you did."

"That's because I didn't even think of what would happen, Ella!" Sky snapped, making Ella flinch. "I acted without thinking about the consequences. One of the stupidest things a person can do! Thanks to me acting without thinking, I ruined Dave's life, and mine. Except for you and a few other people, nobody wants to even be around me. Heck, even Keith did the breakup when I was the one that planned to do that first, and he did it over a stupid text."

Ella reached over to touch Sky's arm and said, "Sky, please, I told you. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. You didn't know what would happen. You're not alone in this. It's Dave's fault too. You were trying to tell him the truth, but he didn't let you have a chance. Now I haven't told him this personally, but I think he overreacted when he did find out. Please, stop blaming yourself for everything."

The other girl sat up even though she didn't feel like it. "I know." She moped. "And I'm sorry for snapping at you."

"No apology needed. You needed to vent." Ella responded and moved her hand up to Sky's shoulder. "Now cheer up. Now is not the time to be sad. It's almost Christmas and that's supposed to be a happy time."

"I don't see how I can with everything that's on my mind."

"I think I know what will make you feel better." The fairytale princess stood up with a smile and a gleam in her eye. "How about I sing you a song?"

Sky moaned. "Ella, please don't sing a song and turn this into some sort of Christmas special."

"_Christmas is a time for cheer,"_

The gymnast frowned and watched as Ella went on with her song anyway.

"_Because it's the end of the year._

_Sure you accidentally led Dave astray_

_But you didn't mean for it to go that way."_

Sky didn't like where this was going.

"_Even though you made him mad,_

_You have shown that you still care._

_His anger might have made you sad,_

_But you still went back and saved him from that bear."_

She had to concede to that point. She was the only one in the helicopter that realized Dave wasn't onboard and they had retrieved him before a robot bear could maul him.

"_He was your friend first,_

_Your enemy last._

_I believe you've already faced the worst,_

_If you make up, you will surely have a blast._

_On the island you both had fun,_

_You had even more when our team won."_

Sky recalled her moments with Dave fondly: calming him down after he was covered in grease, their conversation during Doom Balloons, foraging together, their reluctance to kiss for the scare, learning Dave had set up a picnic for her, their several attempts to kiss in the caves, her concern for him getting beaned by a tennis ball Chef fired, pulling the snake Jasmine provoked off him. All those times, she really did care about him, and those thoughts made her feel happy.

"_Give him a gift,_

_Say hello._

_Close the rift,_

_Dave is now quite mellow._

_Do this because Christmas is a time for cheer,_

_It is especially good to be nice._

_Show him that he's still in here,"_

As Ella said 'here', she pointed closely to where Sky's heart is. Sky followed Ella's finger with her eyes and looked up as Ella pulled her finger away.

"_Show him your bond is not on ice._

_Tell him your feelings that are true,_

_And he will come back to you."_

Looking at Ella, Sky realized she was done singing and struggled to find the words she was looking for. Ella stood patiently, waiting for a response. Once Sky found the words she was looking for, she couldn't help but smile. "Thank you, Ella. I have no idea what to say. Maybe that was what I needed."

"I knew it was." Ella smiled back and bent over to give Sky a hug. At first, Sky was taken aback, but she got over it and accepted the hug, returning it with all her heart. They released and Ella said, "I better go. I usually tell Dave what went on all day so he's not left out of the loop."

"Okay." Sky followed Ella to the door so she could close it.

"Should I tell Dave about you?" Ella asked when she stepped out into the hallway.

Sky shook her head. "No, I want it to be a surprise. I want to do this myself."

Ella nodded in acknowledgment. "Alright, have a good evening."

"Bye." Ella walked down the hall and Sky closed the door.

The gymnast walked back to the center of her room. Ella's song and Gwen's advice gave her some confidence. She would get Dave a Christmas present and fix their relationship; she promised herself she would. Looking around her room for inspiration, it wasn't until she laid her eyes on her computer that she thought of an idea. Picking up her laptop, she settled on her bed and turned on the device. She opened up the web browser and started clicking away. Christmas Eve was five days away so she was on a time crunch; she had to find a gift Dave would like and fast.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Total Drama or anything within the franchise, I only own a DVD of season one.

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><p>Just like Sky had predicted, she didn't have a whole lot of time before the Christmas Eve party.<p>

Partying on Christmas Eve was Geoff's idea. He thought it was a great way to make sure everyone was in the mood for the holiday. It also allowed for everyone to exchange Christmas gifts between each other before Santa came and dropped off all their presents. The sheer mountain of presents they had found their first Christmas morning had rendered them speechless for a good half an hour before anyone dared to open up a present and express their joy.

While Sky was joyful about the celebration, she was also anxious. She really wanted to give Dave his present and make amends with him.

Dressing up in her most holiday-like shirt and a red beaded necklace to match, Sky viewed herself in the mirror before she decided she looked well enough to head downstairs. She went over to her closet, and pulled out a wrapped gift. Examining it for a moment, she sighed. To make sure it didn't get to the wrong person, she grabbed a marker off her desk and used it to scribble on the wrapping paper, 'To: Dave, From: Sky'. Once she returned the marker back to her desk, Sky picked up the gift and left her room. She took a short walk down to the end of the hall, where the elevator was, and stepped inside. As the doors shut her in and began to descend to the first floor, Sky could feel her nerves wracking.

* * *

><p>Down in the lobby, the party was already underway. Several of the contestants were already there and interacting. Presents from the contestants resided under the tree, and if the contestants wanted refreshments, they had to go get food and drinks in the dining hall. DJ had gotten up early that morning to do some major baking, and Geoff, along with a lazy Duncan, supplied the drinks by using their own money. Trent, Beardo, and surprisingly Katie and Sadie, had put together a music playlist of Christmas music from several genres, mixing in a few good time tunes for a little variety.<p>

Owen and Izzy were singing their own tune, which apparently went something along the lines of '99 marshmallows in a bag', to Eva's annoyance and the female bully stuck her earbuds in to listen to her own music while she sat next to Noah, who Izzy had forced out of his room to participate in the activities _again_. Beth and Lindsay stood near the elevator and shared tales of their past Christmases with their families, Sierra was in the middle of putting together Christmas updates on all of her blogs, and Cody took the opportunity of Sierra being distracted to attempt badgering Dawn into telling him what kinds of Christmas presents he was going to get from Santa and the others since she could foresee the future and Dawn was simply ignoring him so as not to ruin the joyous feeling he would get later. Sugar sat next to Leonard with a plate stacked high with more than one of everything that DJ had baked, Topher had engaged in conversation with Jasmine, Sammy, and Shawn, and Ezekiel was trying to enjoy his first Christmas back with the cast since his return to normal.

The elevator dinged open and Sky walked out holding her present for Dave. Beth and Lindsay noticed Sky's entrance and greeted her.

"Hey, Susan." Lindsay waved happily.

"Hi, Sky. Merry Christmas Eve!" Beth added, waving to her as well.

"Hi, girls." The gymnast waved back, and proceeded to venture further into the lobby.

"Sky!" Geoff skidded to a stop next to her with a big smile on his face as Bridgette walked up beside him. "Welcome to your first Total Drama Christmas Eve party!"

Geoff's infectious energy made Sky smile even bigger, making her more comfortable about attending the party. "Thanks. It's great to be here for this. I'm amazed, I didn't know that we'd be experiencing something like this."

"Then again," Bridgette added in, "we didn't know that we were going to be stuck here, at least we didn't until the second season was over, so I'd say this evens out the good and bad."

"Right on, babe!" Geoff wrapped Bridgette up in a hug and gave her a big kiss on the cheek before he released her and turned his attention back to Sky. "Ah, so I see you have a present for somebody."

Sky nodded agreeably. "Yeah, I do. Do you know what I can do with it? When do we give out gifts?"

"Just put that under the tree. We don't exchange gifts until nine, and it is… quarter after seven." Geoff answered, glancing at the clock on the wall.

"Ok, thanks." She walked away from Geoff and Bridgette, and kneeled by the tree to put the present under it. "Okay, what to do first?" According to what Sky had heard around, there was plenty to do. Her stomach grumbling from skipping out on dinner an hour and a half ago, she decided to head to the dining hall to get something to eat.

The dining hall looked the same as it had all week, with the only change being Christmas dishes served at the buffet instead of the night's dinner. An extra table was also added to make room for all of DJ's holiday sweets. The gentle giant had baked several types of cookies, brownies, cupcakes, and more. Taking a tray, Sky helped herself to some of the food, and even allowed a little rule bending to her strict athletic diet and took a two cookies and brownies. Sitting down at one of the many empty tables, Sky indulged in her meal. Besides her, the room was basically empty. Even though the others occasionally came in, they just grabbed a little plate of what they wanted and returned to the party.

'I wonder if Ella managed to get Dave to come down for the party. Nobody should spend Christmas or Christmas Eve alone.' Sky thought as she ate.

* * *

><p>Back in the lobby, the elevator opened up again and Ella exited, struggling to pull along someone by the arm.<p>

As ladylike Ella was, even she was reduced to appearing unladylike. "Come on, Dave. Attending this party will do you some good." She said, pulling the germaphobe out of the elevator before the elevator could close up again.

"Why should I? I doubt anybody's going to give me five minutes." Dave mumbled, moping in disappointment.

Dave looked back to normal. His hair was fully grown back, any bruises and scrapes he had before healed, and Ella had coaxed him into wearing the most festive shirt he had. Considering Ella did so many nice things for him since beginning to live at the Playa, he relented to do her a favor and put on a red, long sleeve shirt his mother had sent him three weeks ago since he would not be home for the holiday. The red shirt had a green evergreen tree on the front side and the back.

"Now, now, that's just negative thinking. It's Christmas, one of the most joyous times of the year. Everybody is in good spirits." Ella admonished him, pausing when she heard a low growl come from Amy, who appeared not to be enjoying the festivities. "Okay, mostly everybody, but that doesn't mean everyone is going to be mean to you. Nobody holds a grudge for this long over something you did."

"You'd be surprised."

Ella folded her arms like a disapproving parent. "I thought I told you to stop reading those negative comments about you on the Internet. They aren't helping you regain your morale."

"I have morale, Ella. It's just dwindling with the amount of negative comments I get compared to the positive ones. There's like one positive comment for every one hundred negative ones." Dave pointed out.

"Listen," Ella put her hand on his shoulder, Dave not even flinching at the touch since Ella had done it many times before, "Everybody's here and this party will get your morale back, I know it. Once you see that nobody here is still fussing over your behavior in the finale, then you'll know that you can come out of your room again. Please, just try for me. Stay for at least an hour. If your spirits haven't been boosted by then, then you can go back up to your room."

Dave thought about it for a moment before he sighed. "Alright, fine. I'll stay. But only for an hour."

"Ella!" A new voice joined the conversation. Both of them turned to see Sierra walking up to them with her laptop. "You got Dave out of his room, great!"

"You told Sierra that I was staying in my room?" He scowled lightly in Ella's direction, looking slightly peeved that Ella had shared information about his personal business.

"No she didn't." Sierra answered, saving Ella from taking blame. "I'm Total Drama's top blogger. I make it my job to know what everybody's up to."

"That's really creepy."

"Eh, I get that a lot." Sierra shrugged. "I'm making my rounds to see what everybody's doing tonight so I'll see you later. Merry Christmas Eve." Sierra walked off.

The fairytale princess stood in front of Dave with a smile on her face. "See? Sierra said nothing about you in the finale, and she even wished you a happy holiday. That's a start."

The normal guy sighed reluctantly. "I guess."

"Oh! Elaine!" A squeal caught Ella's ears. She turned in the direction of the media room, and noticed Lindsay trying to get her attention. "Eliza, there you are! Come on! That Christmas special is coming on! The one you really like that's about Santa's daughter!"

Ella gasped with delight. "The one with the musical numbers? Dave, you must come watch." She said, turning to Dave again.

"Well, it's not like I have anything better to do at this party." Dave responded boringly.

"Come along, then." The fairytale princess took his hand again, and tugged him over to the media room.

* * *

><p>An hour later, it was almost nine. By this time, everybody except Blaineley had joined in the festivities. Blaineley, despite being a contestant, had weaseled a way off the Playa for Christmas every year so she could actually spend it happily. When asked about it, she refused to give answers so they didn't copy her tactic. Everything was in full swing, and thanks to the sugar from the holiday sweets, some of the campers even were getting riled up.<p>

At the time, Alejandro and Heather were making out on one of the lobby couches.

"Ugh, do you have to do that here and now of all times?" Courtney asked irritably from a seat close to them. Why she hadn't simply gotten up and moved was anyone's guess.

They stopped making out and Heather glanced at Courtney. "It's the holiday, Courtney. We can do what we want. And in the spirit of Christmas, I won't make you any crankier than you already are."

"I'm not cranky. I'm actually enjoying myself at this party. The actions of you two are just killing my mood." Courtney informed her.

"Yeah, sure, let's go with that." Heather pulled Alejandro's face back up close and they resumed locking lips. The CIT rolled her eyes and leaned her head in one arm on her armrest.

The evil couple continued what they were doing, not noticing Scott behind the couch. The dirt farmer bent over them, reaching his hand down towards Alejandro's back pocket until-

Fwoo!

Scott stood behind the couch victoriously, swiping up a wallet that was a darker shade of red than Alejandro's shirt.

"Hah, I got it!" He cheered boastfully. Alejandro and Heather stopped their activity to look up at him and see what he was so happy about.

"Yeah!" Duncan hollered from next to a hallway. "Run for it! Before he chases after you!"

"Pleasure doing business." Scott sneered in the couple's faces, tauntingly waving the wallet in front of them before running in Duncan's direction.

"What? Hey! Scott, give that back!" Alejandro demanded of the devious guy, untangling himself from Heather.

Heather scowled at Alejandro. "You had that with you? Now? Why?"

"You never know when you might need a bit of cash, or a credit card." He stated simply before leaving the couch. "Scott, return that to me this instant!"

Scott threw Alejandro's wallet to Duncan, who caught it in his hands and smirked. "You'll have to chase us down first!" Both boys ran down the hall with Alejandro pursuing them.

Heather huffed and folded her arms while Courtney smiled. "Much better." Courtney grinned slyly, allowing her body to comfortably slouch in her seat.

Meanwhile, Ella was away from Dave at the moment and searching for Sky. The gymnast had just left one of the girls' restrooms when Ella found her.

"Sky, there you are." Ella approached her as the gymnast shook her hands dry. "I got away from the Christmas special I was watching for a minute to come find you."

"Did you get Dave out of his room?" Sky asked hopefully.

The fairytale princess nodded. "Yes, I did. As soon as we came downstairs, we went into the media room to watch one of my favorite Christmas specials. We also talked to Sierra, and a couple of the others too. They didn't say one word about Dave in the finale. I think Dave might be enjoying the party now."

Sky smiled gratefully. "That's wonderful, Ella. Maybe he is coming around."

"I think he is too. Did you get him a Christmas present just like you wanted to?"

"Yeah," Sky answered, "I think I found something he'll like. At least, I hope he does. If he likes it, maybe he and I can be friends again?"

"We'll just have to see about that." Ella glanced back in the direction of the media room. "I better go. I don't want to miss any of the movie." She scurried away and Sky went to go do something else.

She was just passing through the lobby when she saw Mike, Zoey, and Cameron huddled together in a corner of the room.

"Sky, come over here. You've got to hear this Christmas joke that Mike found on the Internet this morning." Cameron beckoned her over.

"Ok, sure." Sky replied, walking over.

As she walked over to the trio, she passed Noah and Harold, who were in a game of checkers since they couldn't find the chess set. Noah unenthusiastically jumped his red checker over four of Harold's black checkers in one go. "King me." The bookworm noted.

Frustrated, Harold banged his fists on the table, crying out, "Gosh!"

Once Sky heard the joke and laughed about it, she engaged in conversation with the trio about what she planned on doing with the remainder of her money, a piece of which she spent on Dave's Christmas gift. A few minutes later, Geoff brought out a stepstool and stood on top of it.

"Hey, yo, everybody? Dudes, you listening up?" He asked loudly, getting everyone's attention. Everybody quieted down, and those who weren't in the lobby and were in one of the other rooms came out to listen to Geoff's announcement. Just in time, Duncan returned in one hall while Scott returned in another, Alejandro's wallet in hand.

While Scott tried to figure out what was going on, a punch to his cheek was thrown, and he recoiled in pain. Alejandro grabbed Scott's wrist, and reclaimed his wallet. Unamused, Alejandro stoically stowed his wallet inside his shirt so Scott couldn't get to it. Angered by Alejandro's punch, Scott glowered at him in return while caressing his cheek.

"Alright," Geoff said once he knew he had everyone's attention. "It's nine, and as the rest of you dudes know, except possibly for the new dudes, it's time for presents!"

"Yeah, presents, alright!" Owen whooped, pumping both fists in the air with a chuckle.

"So, who wants to go first? Who wants to get the first gift?"

Jasmine cleared her throat and everyone looked to her. "I think since Sammy has probably had the roughest holidays out of us all in the past, she should get the first one."

"Can't argue with that. Go for it." Geoff gestured for Jasmine to proceed.

Just as Jasmine was going to retrieve her present for Sammy, Amy budged in front of her. "Allow me." The older twin said rudely as she cut Jasmine off. The tall Australian girl gave Amy a glare, but Amy ignored it and dug under the tree for her present. She pulled out a moderately sized box, and returned to where Sammy and her friends were standing. Once she got to her sister, Amy thrust the box into her sister's arms. "There, Samey, now don't go saying I didn't get you anything."

"I have a bad feeling, Sammy. Don't open it." Jasmine hissed into her friend's ear.

"Jasmine, relax. I can handle this. Amy's never gotten me anything worse than a moldy sandwich." Sammy then started unwrapping the gift, determined not to let Amy win this year.

"Aw sick!" Shawn cringed at the idea of getting a moldy sandwich as a present.

The younger twin finished unwrapping the box, and everyone watched as she carefully opened the lid, peering inside through a crack.

Everyone winced when the box seemed to suddenly blow up. When they looked at Sammy, they saw her face was darkened and her hair was blown back on end. They were all deadly silent, unsure what to say except Amy and Max. Amy laughed at her sister in humiliation.

"Ha! Look at her face!" Max mocked before howling in laughter and amusement once more.

Shawn and Jasmine leaned in closer to their friend to examine her. "You okay, Sammy?" Jasmine asked quietly. Still bewildered by what happened to her, Sammy could only blink in confusion.

"Okay, that has to be the best present I have ever given you!" Amy joked, cackling at her sister's expense. In a matter of moments, however, the younger twin's mind caught up to what happened and she scowled. Without warning, Sammy tackled her older sister. "Hey! Get off of me! Ouch, that's my hair, you bratty spare!" The two of them began wrestling on the floor, and everyone was sure to avoid getting in their way or avoid stepping on them.

"Shouldn't we do something?" Bridgette asked, horrified by the turn of events. Even Shawn and Jasmine, Sammy's closest friends, were afraid to get in the middle of their scuffle.

"No way, this is entertaining for all of us that are evil." Max replied, taking pleasure in watching the twins fight.

"Oh Max!" A voice rang out. Max whirled about to see Scarlett holding a present out to him. "Merry Christmas, oh great evil one." She said with an innocent smile.

Immediately forgetting the entertainment of the twins, Max took the gift. "Don't mind if I do." He made to tear off the ribbon tying the gift together first, but as soon as he pulled it off, a small explosion occurred in front of his face.

Everyone winced again, and noticed that Max wore the same darkened face and blown-back hair that Sammy initially had. Aside from the twins fighting on the floor, the only other noise was coming from Scarlett.

"Hahaha, you're right. It is entertaining. You should see the look on your face." Scarlett laughed, pointing at Max's face.

Max snapped back to reality and put his hands on his hips, unamused by what Scarlett did. "Hardy har, sidekick, hardy har. But it's not as funny the second time. If you really wanted to make an impression, you should've done it first. It's not very amusing when you're a copycat."

Scarlett stopped her laughing fit and glared at Max. "Copycat? Sidekick? Excuse me, but I made both of those. You can't copy yourself, and I'm not your sidekick!"

"Sidekick, stop acting up or you won't get your Christmas gift." The wannabe villain declared, completely ignoring what Scarlett was saying.

Snarling in frustration, Scarlett tackled him and started wailing on him like the twins were doing to each other. Unable to defend himself, Max found himself getting roughed up by his own 'sidekick' and started calling out for help.

"Let's just move on, huh?" Geoff asked everyone, trying to ignore the two fights that were occurring. Various murmurs of agreement floated around. "Alright then, who's next?"

"I'll go." Sky raised her hand. In an instant, it seemed like everyone's eyes were on her. "I've got a present for somebody."

"Okay, cool."

Working up the nerve, Sky approached the tree and pulled out her present. "Excuse me." She said to Geoff, having him step off the stepstool momentarily. Standing at the highest she could, she scanned the crowd for Dave. Luckily, he was able to identify. Stepping down, she approached him.

To say Dave was visibly uncomfortable upon seeing her was an understatement. Once they had exchanged eyesight, Dave went stiff, his lips curved into a frown, and he appeared to take a step back. Nonetheless, Sky closed the distance between them, and stood only three feet in front of him.

"Hi, Dave." Sky greeted him, starting the first conversation they had in months off.

"Uh, hey." He shifted his gaze away uncomfortably.

Glancing down at her present, she held it out to him. "Here."

Dave eyed the package skeptically. "What is it?"

"It's your Christmas present."

"My Christmas present." He repeated warily.

"Yeah, I wanted to make up for what I did to you. It's because of me that you hid in your room, why you went into self-exile. I wanted to make things right between us, to start over."

Switching his gaze from the present to Sky's face several times, Dave still appeared hesitant. "Why should I believe you? You led me on."

"I know, and I'm sorry. I never meant to do that."

"You still did it."

Sky started to feel slightly upset. "I wasn't thinking straight. The pressure of the finale was on me, I was so close to the million and my dream. I had no idea that you'd lose your hair, or that Chris would show those videos. Honestly, I meant to tell you."

"Oh yeah? When?"

"Before then. I meant to tell you before the finale happened. There were so many times I wanted to tell you, but you kept interrupting me. I wanted to say that I liked you 'but' and you never let me say it."

Dave narrowed his eyes. "Why didn't you just say it then if I kept interrupting you?"

"Because you're my friend, and I didn't want to hurt you. You were so happy, and I didn't want to crush it. I was waiting for a chance to be gentle. Dave, please, just take your present and accept my apology. I never wanted us to be split apart like we were." Sky held out the present further.

He pushed the present back towards her. "No. Keep your present. I can't trust you. You let me down. Because of you, I lost my hair and everybody in the world thinks I'm some sort of evil psycho now."

"You think I have it easy?" Sky asked him, starting to get even more upset. "You think everybody likes me? Nobody does! They all think I'm a cruel, selfish two-timer who led you on, on purpose. Look, I don't want to fight you so please, take the gift and let's put this all behind us. We can start fresh."

"No, didn't you hear me? Keep it, I can't trust you. I knew it was a mistake coming down here. I should have stayed up in my room." Dave turned his back on her angrily.

"That's your answer to everything now, isn't it?" Sky asked dangerously. "Hide in your room. You know, you didn't have to do that. You could've tried to fix things."

"Seems to me your answer to everything is leading boys on."

"Would you stop that?! The finale was a long time ago. It's over. You know what? Keith dumped me, okay! He dumped me. Does that make you feel better? Does me getting comeuppance make you feel better? It certainly doesn't make me feel good, it makes me feel like I deserved that." The gymnast blew her fuse, ranting. "Now look at me, here I am, trying to fix my mistakes and not leading boys on. I'm not doing it to you, I'm not doing it to anyone. Accept your gift, I worked hard the last five days to find the perfect gift that I thought you'd like, and made sure it got here in time. If you think I don't care about you anymore then you're wrong, would I have gone through so much work if I didn't care about you?"

"For the last time, I don't want your present. I just don't know if I can trust you. All I-"

"Hey," Izzy interrupted, "are you going to exchange the present or not? I'm getting tired of waiting and I want to give Noah the box of snakes I collected for him." She held up a box with breathing holes, which seemed to be moving in her grasp.

Everyone, especially Noah, stared at Izzy in horror. "Snakes? Izzy, are you insane? Get those out of here!" Noah told Izzy.

Izzy pouted, "Aw, but I worked hard on catching them. I caught them all months ago, and have been keeping them alive and fed for months. You have no idea how hard it was to not give away the surprise."

"Izzy," Noah started, "I repeat myself: Get rid of them."

"Come on, Noah, they're not poisonous." Izzy said. "At least, I don't think they are. Some of them might be, I don't know."

"Izzy…"

Izzy waved off what Noah was trying to say. "Come on, just have a look."

"Izzy, I'm warning you. Don't-"

"Catch, Noah, just like in hot potato." The crazy girl tossed him the box.

"But Izzy, you know I suck at things that involve catching." Noah panicked.

The box flew in the air, and everyone was too terrified to move. Even Jasmine, and she was tough as a dingo. Amy, Sammy, Max, and Scarlett stopped their fighting when they heard the commotion, and watched in horror. Near Noah's feet, the box landed on its side, and the top opened, snakes slithering out of it.

Immediately, everyone screamed and fled the scene. Several contestants scrambled into the elevator, some took the stairs, and everyone else just ran for a place the snakes couldn't reach them. Jasmine was quick to pull Sammy off of her sister, and they, along with Shawn, took to the dining hall where Owen had scooped up and taken Noah to. Alejandro swept Heather up in his arms and took her to the nearest flight of stairs. Tyler, Lindsay, Beth, the wonder twins, Cody, and Sierra were the first ones to reach the elevator and it was at maximum capacity. Everyone else who had planned to take the elevator had to choose their plan B.

"Dave? Dave!" Sky called out in the middle of the panic.

"Wait, you're wonderful with animals. Can't you tame them?" Ella asked Dawn, the two of them stopping to a halt for a moment down one of the hallways.

"Normally I would, if I had the protective gear on hand for the poisonous ones." Dawn answered. Ella nodded silently, understanding the circumstances. Further down the hallway, B was frantically signaling for them to follow him. "Come on." Dawn pulled the fairytale princess along.

"What's the big deal? They're just itty bitty snakes. I've seen a cheesecake bigger than all of them combined." Sugar shrugged in confusion.

"Yeah," Izzy agreed nonchalantly, "even if they are poisonous, they wouldn't kiss as hard as the boa constrictor did."

"Hey Sky!" Sugar got Sky's attention and pointed down near Sky's feet. "Looks like that one's taken a shine to you."

Sky looked down, and saw one of the snakes coming towards her. She screamed and finally fled the scene. Knowing the elevator was taken, Sky fled up the nearest set of stairs until she reached the floor the girls' rooms was on. Hurriedly, she entered her room and slammed the door behind her.

Out of the danger zone, Sky stood leaning on her door, holding Dave's present. Taking some deep breaths, she attempted to slow down her heart rate. As soon as her heart rate seemed to be back at normal speed, she realized what had happened down there, and sighed in failure. She dropped the present next to her closet and flopped on her bed stomach first. Thinking of how she had allowed herself to get worked up and mess up again, she only felt mad at herself. Angrily, she raised a fist and pounded her fist on her mattress. Venting her frustration, she grabbed her pillow and unleashed a series of furious punches on it.

'How could I be so stupid? I only made an even bigger mess just like Gwen did! Stupid, stupid, stupid!' She thought with every punch.

Slowly, her anger dissipated with every punch, and she felt her strength weakening with every one of them. When no punches were left in her, Sky grabbed her pillow and threw it down near the top of her bed, fuming in frustration. Shoving her head into the face of the pillow, she screeched a muffled scream. All her rage gone, she pulled her head off the pillow and gently rested the side of her head on it, left thinking about what Dave said.

"_Why should I believe you? You led me on."_

"_Why didn't you just say it then if I kept interrupting you?"_

"_I can't trust you. You let me down. Because of you, I lost my hair and everybody in the world thinks I'm some sort of evil psycho now."_

Everybody was right. Dave was right. He was right. It was all her fault.

At that point, Sky felt like crying. For the very first time since she found out that her sister would be competing in the Olympics for the first time, she felt like crying.

Sky scrunched her eyes shut, and let the tears leak out, all alone.

Unlike last time, Sky wasn't crying tears of joy.

This time, she was crying tears of sadness.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Total Drama, or anything involved in the franchise. I only own a DVD of season one.

* * *

><p>Her eyes refused to be forced shut any longer, they just had to open up. Sky cracked her eyes open and saw that instead of the room being dark, it was actually a little light. Rolling over on her bed, she noticed the sunlight trying to get in.<p>

Somehow, it didn't feel right. It felt as if not too long ago, she had fallen asleep in the midst of her tears. It shouldn't be morning already.

Regardless, Sky got out of bed, her energy restored for the day. Upon standing up, she realized that she was still wearing her clothes from last night's party, the party that ended up in complete disaster. Glancing at the digital clock next to her bed, she learned that it was quarter after eight. Sky then decided to get changed and head downstairs; hopefully the night allowed enough time for the snakes to either die, get rounded up, or get released outside.

After last night's party, Sky wasn't exactly feeling festive so she settled on her usual clothes instead of putting on a holiday outfit. Changing into her chosen ensemble, Sky peeked out into the hall to see if anyone was out there before she left the room. Considering how badly last night went over, she wasn't up to being in anyone's company.

The coast clear, Sky quickly shuffled down the hall to the elevator and pressed the button to summon it. Soon enough, the elevator arrived and with no one in it, she shuffled inside and pressed the button for the first floor before anyone could scramble in to join her.

When Sky got off on the first floor, she was surprised by the appearance of the lobby. For one thing, even with the craze last night, it looked clean and orderly. Nobody's plates were left out, no cups were spilled. The tree, thankfully, was not toppled over and no ornaments were smashed to pieces. To top it all off, Sky noticed something incredible near the tree. Standing around the tree and under it were dozens and dozens of presents. All sorts of boxes were there: big and small, short and long, red and white, and everything in between. Sky had no words to respond to the sight, she could only let her jaw drop. Never in her life had she seen so many gifts in one place before.

"Merry Christmas."

Sky whirled around in the direction of the voice, and noticed Gwen was sitting in one of the chairs with the same bored expression she normally had in her free time.

"Gwen," Sky started, surprised to see Gwen there, "Merry Christmas. What are you doing up? I didn't think anybody else would be down here right now."

"And you're right. Nobody would. Not after last night. If I know these people as well as I do, we're all going to spend the day avoiding each other; spending the holiday in solitude." Gwen said.

"That's exactly what I felt like doing." Sky looked away, rubbing her arm awkwardly.

Gwen sighed. "Sorry about last night between you and Dave."

The gymnast shook her head dismissively. "It's fine. I should've expected that he wouldn't forgive me so easily."

"Well, at least you tried. That's the important part."

"Yeah, I guess so."

The two of them stayed still in silence for a few moments before Gwen glanced over in the direction of the dining hall for a second. "If it's any help, I don't think anybody's in the dining hall right now, if you want to eat your breakfast in peace."

"I would like to do that, thanks." Sky walked towards the dining hall while Gwen stayed sitting in the chair, staring at the tree and presents.

Entering the dining hall, Sky noted that Gwen was right in it being deserted. She shuffled over to the buffet and stocked up on pancakes, cereal, and a cup of orange juice while grabbing both a fork and a spoon. Sitting down at the nearest table, she quickly shoveled her breakfast in her mouth and cleaned up after herself. Walking back to the lobby, she noticed Gwen was on her knees before the tree and searching through the presents.

"Hey," Gwen looked up upon hearing Sky return, "I looked through the pile and it looks like you've got a couple. By my count, you've got four." The Goth girl gestured to the small stack of presents aside from the tree.

"Oh, thanks Gwen. I'll just take these up to my room and open them there." Gwen nodded and returned to looking under the tree, presumably for her own gifts this time. Meanwhile, Sky scooped up the small boxes that were hers and carried them over to the elevator.

* * *

><p>Back in her room, she unceremoniously dropped the little heap on her bed and sat beside it.<p>

"Let's see what Santa brought me." She whispered to no one, picking up the first gift her hands reached for.

Tearing off the wrapping paper, she opened the box underneath it and rifled through the cushioning inside. Her hand felt something cold and metal attached to some sort of clip and fabric. Pulling the object out, Sky realized that it was a medal. From the look of it, it appeared to be a gold medal like one would receive in the Olympics. The only difference was the '#1 TD' engraved on it. Even though it wasn't an official gold medal, it still was the first real one she had ever gotten. Thankful for the gift, she gently set it on the empty space on the other side of her, away from the torn wrapping paper and other presents.

All her gifts were relatively the same size so the selection of which one to open next didn't really have an influence. She merely picked up another one and tore it open. Reaching inside, she pulled out what appeared to be a pair of ear rings along with a matching necklace. Momentarily, Sky wasn't sure about her thoughts on the gift, but she soon realized that this was the matching set of earrings and a necklace that she had seen online three months ago, but never thought to order them since she was so busy practicing her gymnastics and trying to figure out why most of the contestants were steering away from her.

Deciding to open the box containing the earrings and necklace later, she set it down next to the medal. The third present contained a box of hand powder. Sky remembered that she was running out of the powder, and was grateful that Santa had given her more.

Picking up the last present, she tore off the wrapping paper and removed the lid. The gymnast peeked inside, and saw a beautifully crafted snowflake decoration.

"Huh? What's this?" Sky took the snowflake out of the box and held it in her hands. Once she examined it, she exhaled. "If this is supposed to be from that winter movie everyone keeps talking about and singing songs from then it's not exactly what I wanted." Looking at the snowflake again, she let a small smile grace her lips. "Though, it is nice." She looked up at the ceiling. "Thanks for the gifts, Santa, I appreciate them. They're making this Christmas seem a lot better."

Sky set the snowflake aside, and began to clean up the mess of discarded boxes and wrapping paper. With ease, she tossed the boxes into the garbage basket by her desk and stuffed the wrapping paper in a bag before tossing the bag into the basket as well. That small chore done, Sky proceeded to do what she had to with the presents. She would have to get a nail or something in the wall so she could hang up the medal, but for now, she set it on her desk. Keeping the necklace and earrings in their box, Sky opened up her closet and put the box on the shelf above the clothes hangers. So she didn't forget her new hand powder, she made sure to put that in her gym bag. Finally, Sky decided she would also leave the snowflake on her desk as well. She picked up the snowflake to give it another look over before she put it on her desk, this time she actually flipped it over to see if the other side was just the same. Nothing appeared to be different at first, but then Sky checked the bottom side a second time, and it appeared something different was there.

"What? What is this?" Sky asked out loud, examining her find.

Unlike the first side of the snowflake she had seen, the other side had words inscribed on it. _Not a happy champ, name the time you wish to go back to camp, make a change, and events will rearrange._

"What does this mean?" She wondered in confusion. "Santa, if this is your way of trying to help me feel better, it's not a very good one." Still holding the object, she sat down on her bed again, trying to figure it out.

For a little while she sat there, thinking. Trying to figure out the meaning of the message. Her train of thought seemed to reach somewhere, and she sighed. "Everything went downhill after that team swap. Just seems like I had a good time up until that point. If I had to choose a time to go back to, I'd wish to go back to the team swap in episode 7. Since I already lived through that, can't get any worse."

Closing her eyes, she thought of that night. That was the last night she had been on Dave's team, the last night their friendship wasn't so messy.

At that moment, it felt like the snowflake in her hands shook a little. Sky opened her eyes, and checked to see what was going on with it. It started to vibrate again, and this time a light seemed to be glowing on the other side. Curious, Sky flipped it over, and it seemed like the face of the object was glowing brightly. She narrowed her eyes, trying to make sense of what was happening, but the light seemed to be getting brighter.

It go so bright to the point, that Sky was actually starting to become afraid. When the light got really intense, Sky squeezed her eyes shut and screamed while she held the snowflake as far away from her as possible. The light continued to glow.

Then, a big flash occurred, enveloping everything.

* * *

><p>She wasn't so sure what just happened. It was like one moment, she was in her room on her bed and holding the snowflake out as it emitted that bright light.<p>

The next moment, Sky felt like she was asleep and on something hard.

"… y. … ky. … ky! … Sky! Sky, wake up!" A voice called, and Sky felt like she was being roused awake.

Giving into whatever was calling her, whatever it was it seemed familiar, the gymnast opened her eyes. Her sight came into focus, and the first thing Sky saw was Dave leaning over her, an arm outstretched to her shoulder.

"Dave?" Sky asked softly in disorientation.

Dave shook her shoulder once more. "Come on, Sky, rise and shine."

Sky groaned and sat up, rubbing her eyes. "What's going on?"

"Chris said that we still had a ceremony tonight. It's almost time. Shawn and Sugar are leaving for it right now." Dave answered, stepping back so Sky could wake up the rest of her body.

"Ceremony?" Sky yawned as she shook her arms and kicked her legs a few times to stop them from being so numb.

"Yeah."

It seemed like at that moment, Sky froze. That can't be right. She was at the resort not too long ago. She remembered everything: Living at the Playa the last few months, training in the gym, talking to Ella, swimming in the pool, the Christmas Eve disaster, and the presents she got from Santa. Something was off. Not to mention she had the strangest feeling, she almost felt as if she was five maybe six months younger.

Looking at Dave, she could tell he was worried about her well-being when she appeared to be frozen stiff.

Sky thought carefully for a moment before she opened her mouth and asked, "Dave, I had a really crazy dream. It distracted me a little. I'm not caught up all the way. What did we do today exactly? What happened?"

Dave relaxed a little and breathed a gasp of relief. "Remember? We got stuck in those caves, we got chased by a robot bear, and a few disgusting other things," He cringed as he recalled the events of earlier that day, "Anyway, remember? Chris said that neither team completed the challenge correctly so both teams are at the ceremony?"

Recalling those memories, Sky mentally froze in realization. Those events were what happened the day of the team swap. That was the day she had wished she could go back to.

'Oh my… that snowflake… it sent me back in time. I wished I could go back to tonight and that's exactly where it sent me…'

"Sky, are you okay?" Dave asked carefully, taking a step closer to her in case she needed assistance.

"Huh?" Sky snapped out of her thoughts and shook her head dismissively. "I'm fine, Dave, no worries. Just getting all caught up. Um, why don't we go to the ceremony?" She stood up, and hastily started walking to the cave entrance.

"Uh, okay…" He agreed, though slightly confused. Before she could leave without him, he hurried and stepped into rhythm close behind.

* * *

><p>Even if she was thoroughly freaked out by her circumstances, the gymnast forced herself to stay quiet unless she suddenly wanted people to think she had lost it. Trying to bring the least amount of attention to herself, Sky chose the seat at the far end of the first row. Dave sat in the back with Sugar and Jasmine, and Shawn and Topher sat near Sky.<p>

Chris showed up shortly after Sky and the others did, and he looked very cross. Since everyone was already quiet, he decided to do his little speech off the bat. "As you can see," he said, "I had a special reward planned. Dinner from Darwin's Food Safari."

The scene was playing out just as Sky remembered. Chef was near a buffet full of fruit, meat, and vegetables. Then Sugar mentioned how she had been in a commercial for the restaurant. Chris then went on to say how the buffet was going to be eliminated, and Chef lit the entire thing on fire. After that, Chris glared at the eight campers.

"Now, I have a serious matter to discuss." Chris went on about how he knew there was a couple and how they were growing really close, which was why he intended to split them up. He indicated Max and Scarlett as the couple, and had Max switch over to Team Maskwak. To make it fair, he chose Sky to swap with Max. Once Chris made the announcement, Sky looked at Dave.

"Wow, I guess I have to go." She said, sticking to what she had said before.

"Hey, this doesn't change anything, we can still…" Dave tried to say, but was cut off by Max ordering Sky to move.

Sky knew what Dave was trying to say, and moved to Max's seat he had just previously occupied. Chris continued his little spiel, probably the epilogue for the end of the episode, and soon dismissed everyone to return to their shelters.

* * *

><p>Sky walked back with Team Kinosewak, and noticed Scarlett walking up beside her.<p>

"Greetings, I look forward to completing challenges with you, even if the merge is probably coming up soon." Scarlett said, extending her hand in welcome.

Tentatively, Sky took her hand and shook it. "Yeah, sure. That would be great." She said, playing along.

"Glad to have you on the team, I've seen you. You've got quite a few moves." Jasmine said, welcoming Sky to the team.

"Thanks, I'll do my best." Sky responded with a smile.

Topher approached next and said, "I'll tell you this. You're already much better to have than Max."

"Thanks for the compliment, I think." Sky said in response, now after hearing it a second time, she was still unsure whether he had insulted her or not.

The team walked back to the treehouse with Jasmine leading Sky there, even though Sky already knew where it was. Up in the treehouse, Topher went to the boys' side which now only consisted of him, Jasmine climbed up to her perch above the shelter, and Scarlett and Sky went into the girls' side.

"You can take this bunk. It was originally going to be Jasmine's, but you know. It's gone unused this whole time." Scarlett gestured to the bottom bunk diagonal from her top one.

"Thanks. I think I'll turn in for the night. Good night." Sky undid her shoes and took them off, settling into her bunk just like she had in the original run.

Scarlett nodded as she climbed into her own. "Good night."

Instead of going straight to sleep like she had done before, Sky laid in her bunk, awake and thinking.

'What am I doing here? Why did that thing send me back here? I didn't think it would actually work. Does Santa know how big of a mess I was in? Did he decide to help me out?' She ended up answering her own questions. The snowflake sent her back because she wished for it, this could be her chance to make better choices and make a better future for both herself and Dave and possibly everyone else, of course Santa knew she was in this big mess because he was Santa, and he obviously did decide to help her out because if he didn't then the snowflake wouldn't have done what it did and she would still be at the Playa and Dave would still refuse to trust her.

If she was going to go through the second half of the season again, she couldn't make the same mistakes she did the first time. She had to tell Dave before Chris did, she had to be completely honest with him. Scarlett and Sugar also had to be stopped too. Time travel was risky business. One thing goes completely different than she intends, and the future could potentially end up worse. If this was the only chance she was going to get to change the future, she had to make it count. She had to do everything the right way.

Knowing she'd need sleep for tomorrow, Sky let her mind drift into sleep and thought of a plan for what she needed to do.


End file.
